Tõnu Kark

In a struggling post-Soviet community, Lilya a teenage girl is abandoned when her mother moves to the United States with her boyfriend. Facing neglect and poverty, she meets Andrei, who offers her a job in Sweden, giving her hope for a better life — and a journey that will change everything.

Drama based on life and stories of one of the most popular Soviet/Russian writers - Sergei Dovlatov.

Set in the post-war years when sovietization was still being resisted by partisans, often at the expense of a farming population intent on rebuilding.

The Smacking Sea is a film about the work of traditional seal hunters on the smacking Baltic Sea and their life in the coastal village.

The love story of Liza Pesentak and the fearless patriot Melelave, who will go through a series of various trials before they find their happiness.

The Estonians and Latvians join hands in this jointly produced Baltic comedy about love and theft centering on light-fingered Margita. Everything and anything that hasn't been nailed to the spot winds up in her possession - whether it's a wallet belonging to a passer-by or a Jeep. But the police are on to her and the streets of Riga are becoming just a little too dangerous for Margita these days (played by rising Latvian star Rezija Kalniņa). She decides to break camp and hitchhike her way up north coming to rest at a little place called Vineeri in Estonia, where she soon finds herself looking after an entire household, including three men and a small boy.

Engineer Lembit with his construction team arrives at a small island to build a sheep farm. They are accommodated in the house of a middle-aged woman Marta and her daughter Kaja. The everyday routine will change when after some time everyone's controlled behaviour starts to change, expressing suppressed problems and yearning for warmth and love.

The Christmas of 1905 in Vigala is not a peaceful holiday. The manor house has just been pillaged during the peasant's revolt; the air is full of smoke of fire and there is the premonition of inevitable punishment. Bernhard Laipmann is a tenant farmer whose wife is asking him to leave home since her husband keeps drawing the attention of the authorities. Having doubts about leaving, Laipmann is inspired by endeavouring towards freedom and equality and alarmed by the violence of the revolution.

Karoliine is a spoiled and selfish princess who will meet swamp ogres and sleep fairies, a mermaid and a werewolf on her journey. A bunch of robbers will take her to their cave. Despite having a smart and helpful guide Kaspar with her, Karoliine has to get rid of her selfishness and inconsideration towards others. She is gradually becoming braver and good-hearted that will eventually lead her to the presence of real love.

Regina is a beautiful, educated and independent woman whose boyfriend tells her that he is going to marry a young girl expecting a baby. As Regina inherits a house in a little town, an opportunity arises to change her life.

Plucky young Lotte embarks on an adventure with her uncle Klaus to solve the mystery of three stones that a pair of hooded figures are attempting to retrieve.

The assistant captain of a foreign merchant ship, Chief, contacts an international drug cartel. He agrees to transport a large shipment of drugs in unmarked containers. The markings will be added later, only at the shipper's request. Unexpectedly, the ship has to call at a Soviet port to refuel.

Toomas Nipernaadi is seen roaming the rural landscape, going from village to village looking for the woman of his dreams. He wears a bedraggled white suit but generously pays for any lodging he needs or in one case, even buys a farm. Nipernaadi has a way with words and enchants those he meets with his wild stories about himself. Women find him appealing and the men are entertained as he moves from one locale to the next.

Veteran actors from the 3 Baltic countries - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - gather at a castle in Latvia to receive awards for their roles as Nazi villains in propagandist Soviet war films. They reminisce about the films that made them famous throughout the USSR, but also stigmatized the Baltic countries as Nazi sympathizers in the eyes of many Russians - a misconception that is nowadays exploited by the Russian media, desperate to label the Baltic countries as a fascist haven.

American Jay Benson has left behind the Vietnam War, in which he was an excellent sniper. After returning home and marrying the charming Lucy, the hero opens a shooting school. The only thing he needs for complete happiness is money. The first offer from a rich client promises good earnings - and Jay accepts it...

A former goldminer who has run afoul of the law is made an unusual offer by the mafia. The power of money and popularity among women won't let him step down from the rollercoaster in order to make the right decisions.

Paul Madvig is a businessman in an American town in the 1920s, doing everything to maintain his power. He plans to marry Janet, the daughter of senator Ralph Henry who must be re-elected in order to ensure Paul's position. Paul is sure of himself and treats his competitor Shad O'Rory, who is involved in the gambling business, with arrogance. Then the senator's son is murdered. It is rumoured that Paul is behind the murder. Private detective Ned Beaumont, an old friend of Paul's, starts to investigate the case. Based on the novel "The Glass Key" by Dashiell Hammett.

A movie about the life in a small Estonian city in the 1950s. Young people face an instinct for survival that shatters ideals but can also destroy lives.

Percy Nilegaard collects Swedish single men and embarks on a bus trip to Tallinn with a so-called "highly-experienced driver".

Viktor Kingissepp has been the underground head of the Communist Party of Estonia for three years. He corresponds with Moscow, writes speeches for the members of the Communist Workers' Party and makes leaflets for the events of trade union. His purpose is to overthrow the Republic of Estonia since he does not believe in Estonian independence nor in any national ideals. Yet the clock keeps ticking, tuberculosis spreads rapidly, the world revolution is being postponed. What to do in order to make one's efforts work?

Brother and sister Kusti and Iti get lost in a forest while picking strawberries and are captured by an evil forest hag. They are made to work for her. The hag has a son called Bumpy whom Iti befriends. When they get a chance to escape, they decide to take Bumpy with them.

It is the night of March 25, 1949. A full moon hangs over Estonia. Endless rows of cattle cars are waiting to transport thousands of Estonian families, asleep in their homes, to Siberia. The Stalinist regime is ready to treat people like animals.

In Soviet-era Estonia, three young mavericks drop everything and flee to Sweden, but soon learn the free world is not all it's cracked up to be.

An adventurous tragedy about Estonia's first film maker Johannes Pääsuke and his aspirations to travel around with a film camera and find happiness. Together with a good friend, Volter, Pääsuke will spend an incredible week in Setomaa.

The events take place in Estonia in a summer in the 1960s. The Boy and the Girl want to go from mainland Estonia to the island of Saaremaa, but they do not have any money to buy the ticket to the ferry. They manage to hide themselves into a lorry that carries hay. Because they are smoking while they are on the lorry, a fire breaks out. The problem is, that the ferry is in the middle of the sea.

Five people who have recently reached middle-age are driving through Estonia to visit a famous witch-therapist to get rid of their problems. The somber-funny road movie gives a good overview of the life, people and daily problems in Estonia at the end of the Soviet period.

In August, 1991, Estonia reclaims its independence from the USSR and brings to its national bank nearly $1 billion in gold bullion hidden in Paris for 50 years. Russian mobsters have a bold plan to hijack the gold after shutting down the capital's power at midnight

Unforgettable melodies, unique timbre and a memorable, soul-stirring voice. A mystery for women and authority for men, his talent was revered by the highest ranks of the Soviet Union and millions of ordinary people. Georg Ots took the stage when a huge country was recovering from the horrors of war, and his voice returned them faith in a bright future. Few people know what his life was really like.

As a young woman, Claire left her hometown in disgrace. Now she is old and unimaginably rich, as for the first time she returns. The town is nearly bankrupt and in urgent need of money. Everybody hopes Clara will come to the rescue. And she will. However, there is a condition: somebody must kill the man who was her lover all those years ago.

Jüri Rumm is a hot-tempered young peasant who is not afraid of either German barons or the Russian czar, barfights or disobedience to his master's orders. Mari, a gentle peasant girl, loves Jüri despite the fact that he is very popular among young women. Evelin is a quick-tempered baron's daughter who is used to get everything she wants, including a peasant boyfriend who considers himself a free man. Yet, the free man becomes an outlaw. Where will the runaway's love lead him?

Moving from Latvia to exotic Indonesia has proven to be quite a challenge for Paula’s (10) family. Her Mother has a hard time adapting to the country. Her sister, Kate (14), is entering puberty, and her Father’s workaholic nature is causing tension in the family. Luckily, the local boy Akhim (12) offers a ray of hope by telling Paula about special Shaman living in the jungle who has a superpower to bring Christmas everywhere. That must be Santa Claus himself! Kids join on a joyful adventure to find Christmas in the Jungle!

1938: Shostakovich encourages his pupil Fleischmann to write an opera based on the Chekhov story 'Rothschild's violin'. Fleischmann is killed during the siege of Leningrad. Shostakovich completes the orchestration, but in 1948 is advised to suppress the opera, during Stalin's campaign against "rootless cosmopolitans". Jewish motifs enter Shostakovich's own work.

Typhus has killed the father, mother and older son of Palanumäe farm. Hind, younger son, realizes that he won't be able to manage the shabby farm alone. Paabu, the wife of older son, is good at housework and Hind likes her; however, more help than that is needed for maintaining the farm. Jaak, the farmhand, does more harm than good. The rumour is around that when converting to orthodoxy one will lead better life in a warm country - this, of course, attracts Hind, but angers the estate owners. How come this young inexperienced man wants something else than serving the Livonian feudals?

It is the year 1947. The war is over but Estonian forests are still hiding armoured men. When the message comes that Western spies will arrive to support the local bushwhackers, security officer Rein Taim starts to lead the counter operation of the Communist Secret Police in order to catch the Western diversionists and the leader of the Estonian bushwhackers.

Somewhere in Europe by a great sea stands a small village, where inventing all manner of domestic gadgets is held in great esteem. Every year the villagers organize an annual competition of new inventions. One of the best inventors in the village is Oskar, Lotte's father. His primary rival is Adalbert, whose wife also partakes in the competition. On the eve of the next competition, Lotte and her friend Bruno find a book soaked in the sea, from which Susumu, a gardener from distant Japan, climbs out. Susumu teaches the villagers some judo throws before a big judo competition, which the latter will eagerly use to facilitate their daily lives.

On the night of June 22, 1941, a fire breaks out on a German passenger ship. The Soviet tanker "Caspian" comes to its aid - and navigator Nikolai Borshch rescues a German girl, being severely injured in the process. Later, however, the Germans capture the "Caspian" and force it to go to Hamburg...

The story of Balthasar Russow, an Estonian pastor from the 16th century, his life and life's work - writing The Chronicle of Livonia.

The twin sisters Helena and Irene are born in Helsinki during World War II. A few months later their mother, Sirkka, leaves the girls in the care of their grandmother, an old communist, and runs away with a German soldier. Their life under the protection of their grandmother and the teachings of communism ends first with the death of Stalin, then with that of their grandmother. The girls are eight years old when they are put in an orphanage. Their mother shows up at the orphanage in the company of Ramon, a Spanish trapeze artist. They are on a talent search for a German circus. Ramon trains the reluctant Irene during circus tours in Central Europe. She becomes the trapeze star of the circus. The hard work soon exhausts Irene and she falls from height, as if on purpose. Helena has secretly learned the art of fire-eating. Now she is burdened with both her mother and her sister. The violent life, however, separates the three from each other. In the present-day Helsinki the middle-aged...

The parents have gone away, so the two sisters - Marta and Linda - need someone to take care of them. Their dictatorial spinster aunt Una, who desperately wants to get married, arrives to take on this job. Marta really wants a puppy, but her plan is ruined, as her aunt has a strong dislike for dogs. So, the relationship between the girls and Una becomes really tense. Until the perfect plan of the sisters emerges - to get rid of the aunt by helping her to get married.

Ivan, a cynical journalist, is assigned to investigate mysterious events in a small town. During his first night, he is seduced by a strange and mysterious girl. As they embrace, she transforms into a hideous demon. Ivan fights the creature, managing to strangle it. But it is too late, Evil has been unleashed. When Ivan is charged for the brutal murder, he feels his last hope disappear. As he is overcome by the dark forces trying to pose as his soul, Ivan comes to realize that his only hope lies in his power to find the faith that he once lost

A warm movie about two boys, who discover a secret of a painting that was considered to be lost. The adventures begin, when a boss of a bunch of criminals finds out about the painting.

During an election campaign, a large sum of money goes missing at an Estonian politician's home party. The story involves some party guests who have serious money problems and are trying to come to terms with past mistakes. However, the self-confident politician strangely does not turn to the police, but begins to demand his justice by force.

At the end of the 1920-s the Finnish government proclaimed dry law which lasted 12 years. Estonian bootleggers living on the neighboring coast of the Gulf of Finland profited from prohibition......

This is a story of two old folks, who have spent most of their lives behind prison walls. Now, as seventy year old men, they have been granted amnesty. Both men have a passionate desire to change their lives according to certain plans.

The young country of Estonia is dancing to the jazzy tune of the 1920's when on December 1, 1924, the capital Tallinn is overrun by members of the Comintern in an attempt to stage a Communist coup. The film follows the fates of a young soldier called Tanel and his wife, a telephone operator named Anna, amidst the ensuing chaos which determines whether the country remains independent or becomes a minor province in the Communist Empire.

The main character of the film is Paunvere tailor Jorh Adniel Kiir. Two young seamstresses, Juuli and Maali, arrive in Paunvere. At first, Kiir regards them as competitors, but then he establishes friendly relations with them. Kiir marries Juuli, but he is not indifferent to Maali either. The film also follows Kiir's efforts to get his own farm.

In post-World War II Estonia, Mait Kukemeri, an activist of the Young Communist League arrives to the Metsa collective farm in the back of a traveling cinema truck. As a commissary of the spring sowing, he has orders to usher all the people to the field, even if the water is high enough to soak your boots and the machines sink in the mud. Harald Tuvikene, the head of the farm, keeps dragging his feet, trying to pitch his peasant wisdom against the senseless demands of the central power. For the first time in his life, Kukemeri faces a real problem - does he do what's right or does he follow the party's inept commands in order to further his own career?

Occupied Estonia. Stalin and his time, when poets wrote stories and poems to Stalin. The tribunes appealed to Stalin as the "great friend of the Estonian people", but for the majority of the people Stalin's name embodies the violence and lies that hit Estonia, leaving no area untouched, invading every human being as a vampire.

Arabella is a daughter of the world's most terrifying pirate captain. She loves her father but also dreams about a life of a usual girl. One day a weird stranger is saved from the sea who will be the only friend of Arabella. At the same time a rival pirate called Raudpats plans to kidnap the girl. Will she be safe and can she ever live a normal life?

The film is set in a town that has a professional symphony orchestra, managed by authoritarian and confident Paul Levald, who has conducted both the orchestra and his family affairs for years. Due to dramatic events, Paul’s son-in-law Egon Rei must unexpectedly assume his duties. In addition to the baton, power and responsibility as well as the tensions in the orchestra, Egon inherits his father-in-law’s secrets and obligations from his complicated past. New lies are born out of old ones and, at some point, Egon realises that the revelation of truth might cause a real chaos. "Family Lies" by Valentin Kuik and Manfred Vainokivi is a relationship drama about elephants in the bedroom and skeletons in the closet, about small and big deceptions, half-truths and set-ups that can be found in every family’s secret chronicles.